Another peaceful, ordinary day. I came home from school with no homework, thank goodness; so I plopped on my couch and picked up a book to read. The phone rang and I picked it up. It was my mom calling me from work.

"Hi, honey," she said. "I'm going to be working late so you have the house to yourself."

Yes, I thought.

"There is leftover meatloaf and some fries in the fridge  if you want any," she continued.

"Sure, Mom," was all I said.

"Oh," Mom said suddenly. "And remember, no going out, no guests over, and bed by nine thirty."

"Yes, Mom," I groaned. Mom has always been strict about rules. She sometimes treats me like a little kid. She gives me a bedtime when all of my other friends get to sleep whenever they want.  Everyone else gets to do whatever they want when their parents are absent, and I'm still stuck with these dumb rules.

I warmed up the meatloaf and fries in the microwave. Once it was done, I kicked back on the couch, and put on a horror movie. I love watching horror movies before I go to bed. It makes my evening less boring and more exciting.

While I was watching my movie and eating my dinner, I heard a noise from outside. First, it sounded like a car alarm, and then I heard a bang–smash–bang like a monster truck smashing a car. It startled the heck out of me it made me jump off the couch. It was so loud that the whole neighborhood must have heard it too. I stopped my movie and went outside to investigate.

From across my street, I saw that it was Mr. Handerman's car that was smashed up. It was in a pretty bad shape. It was flatten in way that look like it wasn't drivable anymore. Mr. Handerman was outside, yelling and cursing into the air. Some of the other neighbors came out of their houses to see what the commotion was. Some of them went back inside, not caring, while others stood there awestruck.

I went across the street to him to get a closer look and try to find out what happened. Handerman was so frustrated he was kicking the tires on his car.

"What happened, Mr. Handerman?" I asked.

"Some nut head smashed my car," he exclaimed. "Look at this! Look at the damage! What kind of hooligan would do this?"

"Did you see what he looked like?" I asked.

"No, but I've a feeling he ain't human. When I heard my car go off, I went to take a look, and next thing I knew, I heard some smashing noises. I was thinking, 'what in Pete's sake is going on?!' Then when I opened my door, I saw a figure smashing my car with his bare hands. Like he was tryin' to shut it off. I shouted at him, but he ran so fast, it was like he disappeared. I didn't get a good look at him, but I knew there was something fishy about him. Just look at my car now! How many people can smash a car with their bare hands? It's impossible!"

I saw what he was talking about. It was smashed with bare hands. I ran my hands on the beaten car, and couldn't believe my eyes. The dents were real deep; its groves were shaped just like hands and fists when they've molded a piece of clay. And it is impossible for a human to do that. This is no illusion, I thought. I had a feeling that this person, or thing, was beyond human.

"Do you think it was an alien?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do," Handerman said. "No human strong enough could've done this. It's abnormal."

My heart was beating with fear and excitement. I had a feeling there was an alien close by. I wanted to find it now. It wasn't too dark; there was just a sliver of light from the horizon, so it wouldn't hurt to look for it. Besides, Mom said she was working late.

"Do you know where it went?" I asked Mr. Handerman.

"I think I saw it go west," he pointed west to the direction of the forest.

"OK, I'm going to look for him in there."

"Good for you. Get some pictures of it so I can see it and deliver it to the police. I know it ain't human." He was getting excited now. I nodded and went back into the house to get my things.

It was starting to get cold, so I grabbed my sweater and put on some warm socks. I pulled up my short, brown hair into a small ponytail. I grabbed my flashlight and my digital camera, and rushed out the door and onto the sidewalk. I wave to Mr. Handerman and he waved back, wishing me good luck. My hunt was about to begin.

When I entered the forest, nothing seemed unusual at first. The whole forest was extremely quiet. Not even the trees played their soft musical leaves against the wind. I turned on my flashlight to find any weird footprints or something. I did find some footprints, but nothing seems strange about them. They were smooth and flawless. Maybe it was barefooted. Whatever it was, I found my first clue that would lead me to the alien.

Everything seems to grow darker as I walked deep into the forest. The trees' branches stretched out like skeletal hands reaching down to touch the ground. It was so pitch dark out here that I couldn't see my hands. The cold wind touched my face and legs giving me a little shiver. I was getting scared, but my adrenaline was pushing me forward. Even if there was a pack of wolves behind me, I had to find the alien.

The footprints started to fade in the ground. My bright flashlight searched for some more clues. At first, I didn't notice anything, since it was so dark, but then my eyes were caught by something unbelievably extraordinary. There was a huge, solid boulder that looked like it was punched right through the middle. If you look into it, you'll see the rest of the forest. I put my hand in the hole carefully and felt it. It was not too soft, and not too rough. This was definitely done by a hand. My eyes widened with amazement. I was started to get nervous now. What if this thing was extremely dangerous? My ears heard a snap of a twig and a faint crush of leaves. I looked around, trying to see through darkness, and I saw a figure, a human-looking figure walking in the dark. I quickly hid behind the boulder and turned off my flashlight. I peeked through the boulder's hole and saw a figure walking by. There it was! The alien!

I watched him walking around looking for things. I believe he was looking for metal things because I saw him picking up a rusted tin can, bottle tops, and key chains. I saw him pick up an empty can of beans. He didn't keep it, because he didn't like the smell, or he didn't like how dirty it was. Then he picked up something that looked like a rock. I couldn't tell if it was a rock; the night was too dark to see. The alien studied it with fascination. He was trying to figure out what it was and how it works. I didn't think it was a rock because it looked like had two tiny teeth at the end. A quick spark flashed in between the two teeth. I, then, realized it wasn't a rock at all. It was a taser! Somebody must have dropped it or something. I tried to warn the alien not to touch it, but nothing came out of my mouth. Fear had taken over me. I was too afraid that he might see me, and that he was going to get hurt. I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, I saw his thumb move slightly down towards the button. I really, really tried to warn him, but nothing came out. He didn't see me or hear me. Suddenly, without pay attention, the alien's index finger touched between the two teeth, and his thumb accidentally pressed the button. The taser malfunctioned. The alien started screaming in pain as if he was in an electric chair. Somehow his hand wouldn't let go of the taser. I don't know if it was stuck to it. Flashes of electrical light surrounded the taser and the alien. He was suffering from a severe electric shock. His body jerked and twisted and shook, his head whipped around. I ran towards him to help. I didn't care if he was bad or not, I just wanted some proof that aliens walk among us. If he die—or worse, explodes—then I would have nothing. I grabbed his hand that was holding the taser, but I got shocked too. I felt a surge of electricity in my hand and swimming up my arm. I had to let go and jump back. I couldn't risk hurting myself. I had no other choice but to run.

I started to run away from him, but something in me had to stop. Deep down inside me told me I had to help him. I felt like a coward when I ran away from him. He could be dying and needed my help. I couldn't take his horrible screaming. He needed to be free from all the pain and suffering. I started to feel his pain too. Then I realized that it didn't matter if he was bad or different, he needed my help. It was the right thing to do.

I turned back around and ran back to him. He was on his knees now; his life was starting to depart. I picked up a long, thick stick off the ground, and I hit his hand until it was released from the taser. When the taser was freed from his grasp, I started beating it with the stick, as if it was my enemy. The taser broke apart and fizzed. Victory! When that was done, I turned around to see if the alien was alright, but he wasn't.

He was lying on the ground, unconscious. I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. I moved closer, kicked him lightly on his shoulder. No response. I kicked him a little harder, still no response. So I got down on my knees, lean my ear close to his mouth to check for breathing. Definitely was not breathing. I began to get curious and wanted to get a better look at him. I pulled out my flashlight, turned it on, and light it in his face. I was astonish with what I saw.

He didn't look like a typical alien I've seen on TV. He looked more human than alien. He had a human body; no tail, no antennas, or any other external parts sticking out anywhere. He had combed hair, lean muscular arms, and he was probably five foot two. The only part of his body that looked peculiar was his skin. It was a nice smooth shade of green. His hair was a darker shade of green too.I didn't know what color his eyes were but I guessed it was green too. But what really made my soul lighter and my heart skip a beat was his face. His face was so perfect, angelic, like nothing I had ever seen before. His nose, cheeks, jaw, and chin were all so perfect. There wasn't a single flaw on his face, just perfection. I have never seen a face so beautiful in my life.

I decide to perform CPR on him to see if I can revive him. I grasped my right hand on top of my left hand, and pulsed his chest fifteen times. My mom taught me CPR and first aid. She said she wanted to show me the right way to do it instead of learning the wrong way from TV. After I pulsed on his chest, I checked for breathing. Nothing came out yet, so I tipped his head upwards and pulsed his chest some more. I didn't want to do any mouth-to-mouth because I didn't want to catch any of his radioactive bacteria (far-fetched, I know). After the second fifteen pulses, I checked for breathing again. I waited a little longer for his breathing. Then I heard a gasp. His sudden consciousness startled me. I was too scared and too nervous that I quickly pulled myself up, grabbed my stick, and moved away from him. He stood up too, wanting to follow me.

"Stay back!" I yelled, pointing my stick at him. I didn't know if I could trust him or not.

He seemed to looked at me with confusion. I'm not sure if he understood English. He moved a little closer. I wave my stick hard at him. "Stay back! I'm warning you!!" He backed up this time. Then I remembered what Mr. Handerman said. He wanted a picture of the alien if I found it for proof. I took out my camera from my pocket, but my hands were quivering so much, I couldn't take the picture. The camera slipped out of my clumsy hands. I reached down to pick it up, but when I got up and aimed, he was gone.

What's going on, I thought.

I noticed a light behind me. Somebody was driving towards me. I didn't know or care who it was, I just wanted him or her to get me out of the forest before something else happens. I waved my arms to signal them to stop. The car halted to a stop. I looked back at my shoulder to see if the alien was right behind me, but he wasn't. I heard a woman's voice shouting my name, I turned back and it was my mom.

She ran towards me and hugged me, tightly.

"Mom, you're back early," I said casually.

"Mr. Handerman told me you were here" she yelled, her voice angry but scared. "What were you thinking, Kaley?! Don't you know any better not to wander off alone in the forest? What if something happens to you?"

"I'm sorry, mom," I said, apologetically.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she said. "I was so worried. I'd thought I'd lost you." She hugged me some more. This time she was more relaxed.

"Mom, guess what?" I said. "When I was out here, I saw a real alien."

She released me and looked at me like I was crazy. "Kaley, don't start that again," she sighed.

"No, really, I saw a real alien," I said. "He was five foot two, and had a human body. And he was so beautiful, not ugly or freakish. His skin was green, a very nice shade of green. And, oh my God, he was so beautiful! I've never seen anything like it. He was picking up metal things off the ground. I don't know what he was using them for, but he found a taser and got shocked by accident, so I helped him by doing CPR like you showed me and..."

"STOP IT!" Mom yelled, interrupting me. "Enough with the alien talk! I'm not in the mood, OK? We need to get home now."

I had no other choice but to keep quiet and put my head down. I felt my mom's discouragement running in my head.

I got into the passenger seat of the car; my mom restarted the engine and drove off. I turned around to the back window to see if he was still there. But nothing was there except the darkness, and the blacken trees...